Twenty five volunteers recently took part in a three day training course for the preparedness in case of a major oil spill along the Maltese coast under the name of POSOW.
This course was organised between The United Nations body – The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), The Civil Protection Department (CPD) and Nature Trust (Malta).
The course covered theory and practical sessions on Volunteer management, Beach assessment, beach cleaning, wildlife response and rehabilitation.
The project for Preparedness for Oil-polluted Shoreline cleanup and Oiled Wildlife interventions – POSOW, coordinated by (REMPEC), is a two year project co-funded by the European Commission under the Civil Protection Financial Instrument, to improve the preparedness and response in marine pollution in the Mediterranean region.
The project POSOW aims at establishing a regional cooperation synergy through the enhancement of knowledge and capacities of operators (professionals and volunteers) in the field of marine pollution, in European coastal countries of the Mediterranean Sea namely Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Spain.
It is implemented by REMPEC and its partners, namely the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE), the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Sea Alarm Foundation, and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR).
By providing training courses and material to civil protection professionals and volunteers, in cooperation with local competent authorities with the support of CPMR, the project aims at improving the effectiveness of emergency response to shoreline pollution following an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea.
Earlier this year two officials from Malta attended training the trainer course in Brest – France at the Cedre Centre on how to deal with oil spills and wildlife response in the case of oiled wildlife. The officials were Mr Oreste Azzopardi from the Civil Protection Department and Mr Vincent Attard from Nature Trust (Malta).
The training provided close to real scenarios with real oil. Following this Mr Azzopardi and Mr Attard provided the training to the Maltese participants.
On the 4th and 5th of October, 25 volunteers started attending a three day course on response to oil disasters. The lectures where given by Transport Malta, the CPD and Nature Trust (Malta) and assisted by REMPEC at the Xrobb L-Ghagin Centre in Marsaxlokk. On the 12th of October a practical session was held at Birzebbugia San Gorg Bay
The course organisers said that they would like to thank the Birzebbugia Local Council, Eden Cinemas and Transport Malta for their support
Group Photo by REMPEC, Volunteers at work – Nature Trust (Malta)